Variable-spacing mechanism for combined type-writing and calculating machines.



I 0. P. LAGANKE. VARIABLE SPACING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPE WRITING AND CALCULATING MACHINES.

APPLIGATION FILED PEB.12,1908.

929,675. Patented Aug. 3,1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. P. LAGANKE. VARIABLE SPAGING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPE WRITING AND GALGULATING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.12,1908.

Patented Aug. 3,1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. P. LAGANKE. VARIABLE SPAGING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPE WRITING AND CALCULATING MACHINES.

I APPLICATION FILED PEB.12,1908.

Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

. c. F. LAGANKE. VARIABLE SPAGING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPE WRITING AND GALGULATING MACHINES.

- APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12,1908. 929,675.

Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

gAI/MJ NM mm H mN m KIN; .L H BWN s W jive/aim) 0a ah C.I.LAGANKE.

' VARIABLE SPACING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPE WRITING AND CALCULATING MACHINES V APPLICATION FILED EEBJZ, 1908.

I 929,675, Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

UNITED sTATEs trENT onnion CHARLES F. LAGANKE, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ELLIOTT-FISHER COMPANY, 01 NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

VARIABLE-SPACING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPE-WRITING ,AND CALCULATING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

No. 929,675. Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

Application filed February 12, 1908. Serial No. 415,470.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CIIARLES'F. LAGANKn', a citizen of the United States, residing at Harrisburg, in the county of 'Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Variable-S pacing Mechanism for Combined 'l -'pe- Writing and Calculati 'ig Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates primarily to variable automatic spacing mechanism for machines which include a spacing carriage, but is especially intended to effect variable automatic spacing of the carriage of a combined.

tvpcwriting and calculating machine. Machines of-the character specified, such for in stance as the Elliott-Fisher billing machine of commerce, are employed for the recording and adding of a column of numbers, and the object of my present invention is to provide a variable mechanism whereby the carriage may be automatically spaced over both the comma and decimal points of the column to attain the greatest possible speed, or over the decimal point alone when it is desired to print the commas, or will be automatically spaced over none of these points so that both the commas and the decimal point ma; be printed. In the copending application of John A. Smith, No. 390,360, is discloseda spacing mechanism including a trip and a trip arm, which elements are brought into interfering relation by the l'novcment of the typewriter carriage to eilect the automatic spacing of the carriage over a predetermined point, as for instance the decimal point of a column, and the trip arm is movable into and out of operative position to insure or avoid auf omatic spacing, as desired.

The several ends attained by the mechanism which I have devised have been attained by means of the mechanism disclosed in the copcnding application of ii. L. Dench, No.-

415/l69, but the Bench mechanism comprehends a modification of the mechanism shown in the Smith application, above identified, for var *ing the position of the trip arm. lncarr iing out my invention, on the coi'itrary, the desired ends are attained without modification of that part oi' the Smith mechanism which is mounted on the carriage, b adjustabl mounting certain or all of the trips, the trip arm being moved into or out of its operative position recisel v in the manner described in the Smith appli cation identified, and certain or all of the trips being shiftable into or out of position to be engaged by the trip arm .when the latter occupies its set or operative position.

To the accomplislnnent of the objects stated, the preferred embodiment of the invention resides in that constrhetion and ar rangement of parts to be" hereinafter dc scribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and succinctly defined in the ap' pended claims.

In said drawings Figur'e'l tical sectional view of a portion of an Elliott-Fisher billing machine equipped in accordance with my invention. rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is.a perspective view of the spacing mechanism and associated parts. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the carriagecasing, showing the spacing mechanism'in plan,

the ef'lect1ve or set position of the trip armbeing indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectlon through the rear portion of the carriage cas ng, showing in side elevation the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view through the middle portion of the carriage is a central ver Fig. .2 is a easing, showing the key connecting mechan ism which is associated with the spacing mechanism. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through the carriage casing designed more particularly to show the typewriter escapement and the relation the spacing mechanism thereto. 8 is a de tail view of the automatic space key. Fig. 9 is a detail view of the setting lover of the spacing mechan'sm. Fig. 10 is a'detail view of the rear end of the decimal space shaft and the attached arm. front elevation of the registeim Fig. 12 is a bottom-plan view ol the front portion of the register and show ng two positions of the trip arm, the operat ve and inoperative positions of said a-rmbemg m.- dica ed in full and dotted lines respectively. Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12, showing the comma trips adjusted to their inoperative positions. Fig. 14 is abottom plan view of a slightly modified arnmgcment m which the trip arm always remains in its operative position and the trips are all inljustahle.

Each part, v-xherever shown, le. unheated. by its proper reference char-miter.

The EZLiott-l islrcr billing meclrinc.-The

Elliott-Fisher mach inei's a list platen typc- I'OL/A' Fig. 11 IS a lower portion ol the writer equipped with adding mechanism operatecl from the typewriter ieys, whereby a column of numbers recorded by the typewriter will be simultaneously added. The typewriter-includes a flat platen 1 over which travels longitudinally for line spacing a machine frame 2 traveling on which transversely of the platen to effect letter spacing of the el'iaracters printed, is a carriage 3. Mounted on and movable with the carriage is suit able downwardly acting printing i'nechanism ineluding type arms 4 operated through suitable connections by letter and numeral keys 5 and 6.

The carriage 3 is propelled to the right by carriage propelling mechanism including spring drums, not shown, connected to the carriage by flexible tapes 7, one of which is indicated in Fig. 2. T ie step-by-stcp movement of the carriage for letter spacing is controlled by carriage feeding meclmnism operated from the typewriter keys in a manner well understood in the art and including a carriage feed spindle 8 geared to the frame 2, as indicated at 8, and controlled by an es capement which includes a ratchet wheel 9 "fixed to the spindle 8 and cooperating with two dogs 10 and 11 connected by links 12 and 13 to a vibrator 14, which is in turn connected by a link 15 to an arm of a rock shaft 16 arranged to be rocked by slides 17, which are in turn operated by key yokcs l8 mounted in the carriage of the typewriter and operated, as any given key reaches the downward limit of its movement, to elfect the; rocking of the shaft 16 and thus swing the vibrator 14, all as fully described and shown in Patent No. 765,861 to John A. Smith.

It will be noted that the dog it) normally engages the cseapement wheel 9 and thus holds the carriage against'movement. Upon the depression of a key, the dogs are simultaneously moved in opposite directions, the dog 11 reaching its engaging position beforethe carriage is released and permitting only sufficient movement of the wheel. 9 to insure the engagement of'the dog 10 with the next succeeding tooth of the wheel when the dogs are again reversed by the action of a retracting spring 19 upon the release of the key. Therefore, as the key is depressed, there is no appreciable movement of the carriage, but upon the release of. the key the dog 11 moves out of engagement with the wheel 9 thus permitting the latter to rotate the distance of one letter space or one tooth of the ratchet 5') before the carriage is ar rested by the reengagenient of the dog it) with the ratchet.

T 71 c adding mechanism.---The adding mechanism, which is-combined with the typewriting machine, includes a totalizer, register, or computing device 30 adjustably mounted on the frame 2 and located in rear of the upper portion of the carriage 2;. The

register 20 is of well known construction and includes a series of denominational members or number wheels 21 arranged in line and equipped with suitable carrying mechanism whereby the Value accumulated upon any wheel will be transferred or carried to the wheel of next higher order. The register constitutes the relatively fixed unit of the adding mechanism, which letter also embraces arelatively movable unit in the form of actuating mechanism which travels with the typewriter carriage 3 andis presentcd by the movement of such carriage to successive number wheels. Thus upon the depression of any numeral key of the typewriter to print a digit in a given denominational position of the adding field or column, the number wheel of corresponding denomination will be moved a number of increments corres ending to the value of the printed digit, t iereby accumulating the value of the digit in the register, simultaneously with the printing thereof.

The actuating mechanism embraces a master wheel 22 and suitable differential connections between the master wheel and the several numeral keys 6, the connections being so proportioned that each numeral key will move the master wheel a distance proportionate to the value of said key.

It is thought to be unnecessary to specifically describe either the register or its operating connections, but for a more complete disclosure of these mechanisms, attention is directed to Patents Nos. 825,469 and 829,971. to Laganke and Smith.

It may be noted in passing that thenumeral keys 6 of the typewriter are separably connected to the actuating mechanism of the adder, the actuating mechanism including a series of links 23 having detachable connection 24 with the stems of the numeral keys and arranged to be swung into or out of connection with said keys by a yoke 25 which includes a bar :26 disposed within longitudinal slots 27 in the links. The keys are normally disconnected from the links but automatically connected thereto at the proper point in the travel of the typewriter carriage by what is known as automatic key connecting mechanism which is incidentally shown in the aceom'panying drawings, but is described and shown with more particularity in the application ef John A. Smith already referred to.

tilt) The variable automatic spacing fincclut-nis/n,.-'lhe Elliott-Fisher maehimris largely used for the computation of money values. It therefore includes what is known as automatic decimal spacing mechai'iism arranged to cause the carriage to skip over the decimal point from the units to the tens position upon the release of a key after printing a digit in the units order of the column. ()no form of such mechanism is disclosed in lattill] ent No. 320,879 to Laganke and Smith, but the form here shown involves the Smith escapement disclosed in the patent to Smith, No. 765,861, bel'ore mentioned, and is shown and described in the application of John A.

Smith, already referred to.

Depending from the casing of the register 20 is a decimal spacing strip,28 in the form of a pointed tooth disposed in the path of a trip which, when the decimal space is reached by the carriage, engages and passes under the trip-28. The trip arm 29' is secured to the outer end of a rock shaft 30, which is rotatable and longitudinally movable in. a bearing sleeve 31. projecting through the back wall 3 of the carriage casing, see Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7. Adjacent to the inner end of the rock shaft 30 is secured'an arm P2 the free end of which is disposed over the laterally disposed end or lug 33 of a dog retarding lever 34. The lever 34 is fulcrumcd intermediate of its ends to the back wall of the carriage casing and is extended under the pin 35 projecting laterally from tlie free end of the (log 10.

- Ve have already seen. that the letter space advance of the carriage is effected while the dog 10 is moving back to engage the next succeeding tooth of the ratchet, and it will therefore be obvious that if this movement 'of the dog to its engaging position is memcntarily retarded, the ratchet Wlll. be per-.

mitted to move the distance of two teeth instead of one before it is engaged and the carriage arrested by the dog. The parts just described. are designed to effect this momentary retardation of the dog 10 so that as the carriage moves from the units position it will advance a double space or the distance of two normal letter space movements, so as to cause the printing point to pass directly from the units to the tens position and skip over the decimal. space. It will be seen that when the trip arm 29 engages the decimal spacing trip 28, said arm will be slightly de- .ticularly in writing ordinary matter across that area which may be used as the adding l ield, for instance when the computing device is entirely out of use or when it is desired to write matter across the sheet above or below a column of numbers which are to be or have arm 29 having a pointed teeth 29 been added. In order to render the decimal spacing mechanism operative or inoperatwo, the shaft 30 is made longitudinally movable, as stated, in order to )ermit the same to be shifted back to bring the trip arm 29 into cooperative relation with the trip 28- or forward to present the trip arm out of cooperative rclation n. ith said trip, the two po sitions being indicated in Fig. 4-, the o xgrativc position of the mechanism being Sl IOWII in dotted lines, and the trip arm being shown in full lines shifted to its inoperative posi' the angular forked extremity 40 of a setting lever 4 fulcrumcd intermediate of its ends, as indicated at 42, to a bracket 43sccurcd t0 the wall 3" of the carriage. 'i'he op )osite end of the Lover 41 is turned to vertical position, as shown in Fig. 5), and is provided with a fork 4A engaging a reducedportion 4-5, of the rock shaft 30. It will thus be seen that by tilting the s lace key 36 in one direction the lever 4.] will be swung to shift the shaft 30 longitudinally and thus present the trip arm 29 in operative position. Similarly, by tilting the key 36 in the opposite direction, the arm 29 will. be withdrawn to its ineffectiye or inoperative position. Therefore,- by manipulating the key 36, the operator maydetermine whether or not the automatic spacing mechanism will operate when the tooth 30 of the arm 29 reaches the decimal spacing trip 28.

The multiple trip armngcmentilho mcchi anism for automatically spacing over the declmal point 1s fully disclosed 1n the Smith application, and. it will be apparent that if,

in addition. to the decimal trip 28, other trips of similar character are placed in alinement therewith and )roperly spaced therefrom, the carriage may be automatically spaced over the colnma spaces of the columnin a manner precisely similar to the described method of spacing over the decimal point. 'lhereforc, in addition to the trip 28, I )rovide'the casing of-the register with additional trips 4-5 and 46, which may be termed the comma trips, it being understood, however, that the number of such trips is immaterial, and that the number here shon n may be increased or diminished, as desired. v

A plurality of trips supported. by the reg ister and arranged in the path of a trip arm which is capable of being moved into or out of operative position, is shown in th i application of W. L. Dench,'-l1ercinbeforc identified, but in. accordance with my invcntion,-the comma trips 45 and 46 are independently adjustable into and out of the o erative lane of the trip arm, in order that, )y the a justment of said trips, the operator may predetermine the points at which the automatic spacing will be reflected when the trip arm is located inoperative position. Any suitable means for adjustably mounting the comma trips may be provided, but a simple and convenient arrangement is that shown in Fig. 1.1. Each comma trip depends from a supporting plate 4-7 slidably mounted in a recess 48 in the under side of the register casing, or in a plate secured thereto, and is retainedin 'its adjusted position by a headed screw 49 extended through a longitudinal slot 50 in the plate 47 and screwed into the bottom of the register, see Fig. 13. It will thus be seen that regardless of the position of the trips, the tri' arm 29, if moved to its forward position, s IOWII in dotted lines in Fig. 12, and in full lines in Fig. 4, will be located out of alinement with said trips as the carriage advances, and will effect no automatic spacing of said carria c. This will enable the 0 erator to print oth the commas and the ecimal point, if he so desires. If, on the contrary, the trip arm is moved back to the full hne position indicated in Figs. 12 and 13, then automatic spacing for both the commas and the decimal point will be effected, provided all of the trips are arran ed in line, as shown in 'Fig. 12, this being tie arrangement designed to facilitate the greatest possible speed in the manipulation of the machine by automatically spacing the carriage over the comma and decimal spaces. If, on the contrary, speed of operation is to be subordinated to the desire to print commas, in-

- stead of merely subdividing the groups of digits of a number by spaces, the screws 49 are loosened and the comma trips are moved back and secured in their inoperative positions, shown in Fig. 13, which will leave only the decimal trip in position to be engaged by the trip arm as the carriage advances and thus enabling the connnas to be printed. Obviously, since the comma trips are independently adjustable, any one may be adusted to operative or inoperative. position, regardless of the position of the other or others, and if desired, the decinnil trip may be adjustably mounted in a manner similar to the adjustable moulding of the comma trips.

Attention is (lircctcd lo the tart that by mounting thc comma trips :uljustably, as dcscribed, it is possible in provide l'or no automatic spacing, automatic dccimal sl-iacing alone, or aulolnnllc spacing for both the commas and the dccimal without modifying the automatic spacing mechanismdisclosed in the Smith ap lication. cxccpl lo thecxtcnl lil provii ling' :1'l(lll limul lrips :uljustably mounted. in l'acl, b mounting all of the trips adjnslabl), it is possib in secure lhcsc three spacing conditions in a machine having no provision. for shifting the trip arm lalerally. In Fig. 14, for instance, I have shown the register equipped with three independently adjustable trips arranged to cooperate with a trip arm which remains at all times in its 0 )erative position, as disclosed in the copending ap )lication of John A. Smith, No. 221,857, it eing observed that any or all of the trips can be adjusted into or out of cooperatlve relation with the trip arm, in order to provide for automatic s )acing over any or all of the points to which t e trips are appropriate, or over none of said points, as desired.

It is thought that from the foregoing, the construction and operation of my variable automatic spacing mechanism will be clearly understood, but I expressly reserve the right to el'l'eet such changes, modifications, and

variations of the illustrated structure as may come fairly Within the scopeof the protection ra ed.

l. The combination with a carriage, earriage propelling mechanism, and .earriage feeding mechanism controlling the step--bystep advance of the carriage, of automatic spacing mechanism including a plurality of spacing trips one of which is movable relatlve to another'to' resent the same in or out of operative position, and a member cooperativcly related to the trips and to the feeding mechanism.

2. The'combination with a carnage, earriagc propelling mechanism, and carriage feeding mechanism controlling the step-bystep advance of the carriage, of automatic spacing mechanism cooperating with the feeding mechanism and including a plurality of trips and a coi'iperating member brought into engagement by the movement of the carriage to effect an abnormal operation of the feeding mechanism, one or more of said trips being imlcpcmlently adjustable into and out of operative position.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combina tion with the carriage, carriage propelling mechanism, an cscapemcnt controlling the 'stcp-by-stcp advance of the carriage, and

printing mechanism including keys coopcrativctv related to thc cscapemcnt, ol spacing mechanism cooperatively related to the escapcmcnt lo autoimiiically space the carriage over a prcdctcrminc l point or prcdetcrmincd points, said spacing mechanism including a plurality of trips rclaiivcly adjnstable inlo and out of opcralivc positi n, and a member adapted to coi'iperatc wilh said trips when brought into engagement lhcrc- With by the movement ol' the carriage.

4. ln a typcwril ing machine, the combinm tion with the carriage, propclling mcchanism thcrcl'or, an scapcmcnt controlling ihc lcl. tcr space movcmcnl ol' the arriagc, and printing mccl-anism including l cvs cooperatively related to the escapement, of spac- I ing mechanism brought into action by the carriage movement to exaggerate thespacin ,said spacing mechanism including a luraity of trips and a cooperating mem er, and said trips bein adjustable lengthwise of the carriage trave to predetermined osi- .tions and relatively adjustable into an out ing' connections therefor, and spacing mechanism cooperatively related to the escapement and including a plurality of trips and a cooperating member, said trips being associated with the register and relatively adjustable.

6. In a'combined typcwriting and adding machine, the combination with a typewriter including the carriage, keys, printing mechanism, and an escapementcontrolling the step-by-step advance of the carriage and operated by the keys, of a register adj ustahle lengthwise of the carriage travel, and spacing mechanism cooperatively related the cscapement to cause an exaggeration ef the normal operation thereof at one or more points in the trave l'of the carriage, said spacing mechanism including a plurality of devices and a cooperating member brought into engagement by -the movement of. the carriage, said devices being adjustable lengthwise of the carriage travel to predetermined ositions and one or more of said devicesbemg independently adjustable into and out of operative position.

7. In acombined typewriting and adding machine, the combination with a typewriter including a carriage, keys, and printing mechanism, an escapement control ing the step-by-step advance of thecarriage and operated by the keys, a register adjustab lengthwise of the carriage travel to different column positions, operating connections for the register, and spacing mechanism coopcrating with the esca ement to cause the carriage to automatica 1y space over decimal and comma points, said spacing mechanism including a plurality of devices mounted on and movable with the register, and a member presented successively to said devices by the movement of the carriage, certain or all of said devices being adjustable into and out of operative position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. LAGANKEL Witnesses:

EDWARD M. WINTERs, M, B. ODoNNELL. 

